Hearing on a public interest litigation challenging the ordinance brought out in the recent past by the State Government to exempt former chief ministers from paying house rents and other facilities, the high court has issued notices to the ex-CMs including the current governor of Maharashtra, Bhagat Singh Koshyari, and sought their reply within three weeks. The State government has also been directed to submit its response within three weeks by the division bench headed by chief justice Ramesh Ranganathan.
The petition will be taken up for hearing next on October 14.
The Dehradun-based Rural Litigation and Entitlement Kendra (RLEK) had filed a public interest litigation in the high court challenging the ordinance brought out by the State Government to exempt former Chief Ministers from paying rent for the official bungalows and paying for other facilities provided to them in the past. The petitioner has averred in the petition that the State Government had misused its powers by passing the ordinance to provide personal benefit and services to former Chief Ministers, which is unconstitutional.
It is pertinent to mention here that in the past, hearing on a PIL filed by RLEK, the high court had directed the former Chief Ministers to pay the rents of the official bungalows and pay for the other facilities provided to them by the State Government.
After that the State Government had brought in an ordinance exempting the ex- CMs from reimbursing the said expenses incurred on them.